A phenomenological analysis of the subjective meaning of being part of the police services at a police station in the Uthungulu district.
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Date
2009
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Abstract
The study considers the historical and present socio-political and crime situation within the South African context With the subsequent changes after the establishment of a new democracy, people's perceptions and views have shifted. The social conception that once was, has changed vastly. The author focused on the current state of crime and those who are entrusted to fight it. The investigation attempts to establish how police officers are experiencing their current employment situation, and to possibly relate it to historical phenomena and relevant literature.
The police officers' world, is one of unique experiences, which the average lay person would not necessarily have to deal with. Police officers are also influenced by many factors which make up our social, cultural, and environmental aspects. But one has to consider that their point of reference may be different to ours. Their conception of experience may exist at a different level. It is this "experience of their experiences" which is the focal point of the investigation. Are there any significant phenomena and issues surrounding their lives which citizens never even think about? And if so, to what extent do these phenomena influence their personal lives?
This study attempted to shed light on these and other issues surrounding police officers and their experiences and reasoning. The study addressed itself to gaining insight into police officers' life-worlds by utilizing a phenomenological research design with the use of unstructured type interviews. Ten research participants were interviewed in an attempt to gain an understanding of what it means to be part of the South African Police Services (SAPS). The research was demarcated to a police station in the Uthungulu District in the Northern KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.
The data gathered was broken down into separate parts and analyzed based on meaning discriminations. These meaning discriminations were then to be clustered into common categories and themes, which the author used to develop the textual descriptions of the experiences of the participants. The study concluded with a general description of the
experience of being a police officer for all ten participants. Overall, this research provided possible insights into the life-worlds of police officers in the SAPS, and contributes to the general understanding of the subjective meaning attributed to this employment.
Description
Submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfillment of requirement for the degree
of MA (Clinical Psychology) in the Department of Psychology at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2009.